We didn't have a stopwatch and hadn't noted the time when we exited, so we just stood there staring at each other. After what felt like twenty minutes, but was actually four or five, we ran into the bathroom and stood there staring at the little blue lines. Of course, I couldn't believe it was positive, so I ended up peeing on the second stick and waiting another three minutes to see the same results.

Colt hugged me so tight, kissing me all over my face. He picked me up and started spinning me around the bathroom. "We're goin' to have a baby. Woohoo! Oh Darlin', I'm just so excited."

He finally set me down, but not before he kissed me again. "I can't believe this is finally happenin'."

"When can we tell everyone?" He asked excited.

I stood there and just started crying against his chest. For so long I had been afraid that we couldn't conceive. I was overwhelmed with emotions just knowing that I had a real baby growing inside of me, a baby that was made out of pure love and pa.s.sion for each other. It was the most amazing feeling I had ever experienced.

"Oh Colt, I can't believe this is finally happening. We're going to be a family, a real family baby." He held me tight, spinning me around in circles.

Happy tears were shared between both of us, leaving us in momentary bliss. I was happier than I had ever been in my entire life. I had the most handsome and loving man as my husband, a beautiful home, a family that loved me, wonderful friends and my first child growing inside of me. Our life was perfect and Colt was the reason. He gave me it all, and I would be forever in awe with his devotion to me.

For the next four weeks, we managed to keep my pregnancy a secret. Colt had a more difficult time than me, especially being around his mother all of the time. For a while I thought he caved and told her, but I knew he hadn't when I saw the look on her face when she did find out.

We had our normal family Sunday dinner. Conner had already left and Lucy was doing the dinner dishes. While Aunt Karen and my mother in law were gossiping during our card game, Colt cleared his throat and stood up from the table. They both looked and watched as he pulled me to stand next to him. He looked down into my eyes with the biggest smile I had ever seen before. He never looked away from me as he began to speak. "Savanna and I have somethin' important to share."

Colt's mother literally yelped and stood up holding her hand on her heart. "OH MY G.o.d, YOUR PREGNANT?"

We both turned to face her as we started laughing and shaking our heads to confirm. Both of the middle-aged women came running to our side of the table, throwing their arms around us and feeling on my belly.

His mother cried for nearly an hour, pulling us into the living room to talk about her excitement some more. She offered to basically buy me anything my heart desired in preparation for our special delivery. As much as I appreciated her thought, Colt and I could afford to do it all ourselves and we wanted to. This was our first child and we were ecstatic.

For the past six months, I had done nothing but think about baby matters. I had a nursery designed in my head. I knew what bedding I wanted and what kind of diapers I preferred. I had already filled out information on cloth diapers and had them mailing me several coupons a month. I researched nipples and what type of bottles gave the least amount of gas. One day I had gone out to a department store and ended up trying out several strollers and car seats. I was so ready for this, so ready to give Colt the family that he wanted so badly.

My first doctor's appointment was at ten weeks. The doctor wasn't optimistic at first, but she was able to find the perfect little heartbeat. Colt held my hand as we listened to it for the first time. It was the most rapid, most beautiful thing to hear. While the doctor wrote me my prescription for prenatal vitamins, she kept the monitor over my belly so we could continue to listen.

We left the office hand in hand. Even though we already had known we were pregnant, hearing the heartbeat made it all real. There was a little baby growing inside of me; a little Colt perhaps.

Ty and Miranda were just as excited when we shared the news with them. Miranda had checked with her doctor and they still had a little under a year to go before they could start trying themselves. They were completely happy with Bella, but I think Ty was hoping for a little boy to complete his perfect little family. They really were perfect too. Their friendship and love for each other was amazing to experience. If I had ever doubted them before, it was proven beyond a doubt that I had been wrong.

Miranda was really happy with the salon she was working at. She had made great friends there and she and Ty had even joined a local billiards league for a night out together. Ty's mother was madly in love with Bella, apparently spoiling her like crazy. After four months, Ty and his father managed to do a complete renovation to the Carriage house. They had taken the back storage part, which had been a barn, and converted it to more living s.p.a.ce. They had restored the original roof and gave the living room higher ceilings with exposed beams. It was such a big change, and looked like their own little cottage.

Of course, Bella got her own bedroom and playroom, as well as her own little bathroom. In fact, the full addition added three bedrooms and a bathroom to the house. To make up for the loss of storage s.p.a.ce, Ty got his father a pole-building and had it installed. They seemed happy living on the farm. It wasn't like they didn't have privacy. The houses weren't right up against one another and Ty and Miranda's front door faced the opposite direction.

Colt and I had gone to visit them twice and for now, they had made one room for guests. Bella made it a point to drag us down the new hallway and show us her new rooms. The best part was when she made Colt sit on the floor while she handed him each toy in her room, one at a time.

We had a really great visit and didn't want it to end. I no longer even considered Ty an ex-lover. Instead, he was a great friend and cousin. Miranda had helped me learn to discover myself and my body resulting in a deeper connection with Colt. We'd have secret conversations labeled 'girl talk' and she never shared my private information with Ty. I had no idea if they ever talked about me, but Ty never mentioned it, so I a.s.sumed she hadn't.

Ty's mother also had changed her opinion of me. For so long I had wanted her to accept me and love me. On one of our visits, she pulled me aside and profusely apologized for being such a hardcore b.i.t.c.h. Ty was happier than he had ever been, which meant she was happy. Maybe she had known all along that we weren't meant for each other. Either way, to hear her saying those words to me made me so happy. From then on, she was never bitter.

We must have gotten pregnant right after our last visit to North Carolina. Colt came back to some issues with the ventilation in two of our chicken houses, so he had spent a whole week working late getting them up to par. He was so tired when he finally came in at night that we didn't have s.e.x for over a week. I only remember because it was the longest we had ever gone without it. The night he finally had everything working, he came home and pretty much attacked me, pulling me in the shower with him first, then taking me back to our bed.

It had been so intense from the s.e.xual tension building up between us, that we just had an entire night of making love to each other. We slept the whole next day, only getting up to eat, drink and use the bathroom. I never wanted to go that long without being with Colt, but I will never forget how awesome it was when we finally did it.

The first trimester of my pregnancy was perfect. I was tired at first, but it subsided and I felt fantastic and excited. I never really got morning sickness. It was cool to finally start getting a little baby b.u.mp to my belly. It was not noticeable unless I was naked, but Colt was the only one feeling around every night anyway. He would always lay next to me, kissing and rubbing my belly, sometimes even talking to it.

My mother was freaking out, knowing that she and my father were so far away, but I wasn't really scared about being alone, besides Colt told them that he would fly them down immediately when the baby was coming.

One morning Colt went out to work somewhere on the ranch. We were running low on groceries and I refused to let Lucy do our shopping for us, so I grabbed my purse and headed out toward town. For some reason I had become obsessed with couponing, after watching the extreme couponing show on television. We didn't need to necessarily save money, but I did it as more of something to do with my extra time. We may have been well off, but I liked to get good deals still.

I went into the store with my book of coupons and the list of what I was going to buy. Early in the mornings, the stores weren't ever busy, so I could take my time without dealing with long lines of people.

After checking out, I headed toward my car, hitting the trunk b.u.t.ton on my key ring.

As I started unloading the groceries, I heard someone come up behind me and grab me. Something hard pointed into my side. "If you f.u.c.king scream, I will kill you right here."

I froze, trying not to make a sound as he pushed me toward the pa.s.senger side of my car. The man opened the door and shoved me inside. "Don't look up. Keep your G.o.d d.a.m.n head down."

I looked to the floor, hoping and praying he would just take my purse and leave me. I didn't want to die. I couldn't even remember if I had told Colt how much I loved him this morning. How could this be happening to me? We lived in such a small town.

"Please don't hurt me. Just take my whole purse. There is over a hundred dollars in there and several credit cards. I won't say anything. I swear." I pleaded with my eyes closed the entire time, just praying to myself that he would listen.

My body began to tremble and I could feel my teeth chattering, not from being cold, but from being completely petrified. I started crying out loud and I felt the car door slam next to me. For a brief moment, I thought he had left, but then the driver's side opened. At that very precise moment, I had looked up to see if the coast was clear. I got one brief look at the perpetrator before feeling a blow to my face.

When I came to, I tried to move, but my hands were restrained behind my back. Something was tied around my head and stuffed into my mouth. My tongue lay dry against it. I began to gag, but no one came to help me or relieve the bindings. I sat there on some sort of dirty bas.e.m.e.nt floor and cried, with n.o.body to hear me.

Some time had pa.s.sed before I was awoken suddenly to someone slapping me in the face. I realized that I must have fallen asleep from crying so badly. I looked up to see the shadow of a man standing behind me. He was tapping on something that looked big and long in the shadow. As he smacked it repeatedly against his hand, I could tell that it was not metal, but more of a plastic sound. His country accent filled my ears. "You just sit still and mind your business and I won't hurt you. I bet you thought you were lucky marryin' someone like Colt Mitch.e.l.l. Miranda thinks she can just get me locked up while she is livin' all large somewhere, well that s.h.i.t is about to change. I seen her and that cousin getting' all cozy. It's kinda funny how I wasn't good enough, but they accept her havin' some kind of incest relationship."

Oh G.o.d! I have been kidnapped by Tucker Chase.

"That is some kind of sick s.h.i.t. It don't matter to me who that little wh.o.r.e is bangin'. I'm gonna gets me some of that money and get the f.u.c.k out of this town. Once I gets mines I will let you go."

This can't be happening to me. I just want to go home. I want to forget this day ever happened to me.

I was mumbling words from beneath the cloth shoved in my mouth, but Tucker never relieved me from it. I could hear him pacing behind me and when he began to talk again, the sound of his voice startled me. I hadn't noticed before, but my head was throbbing and when I moved my eyebrows, my forehead and cheek felt weird, like when I wore face masks for my skin. With the pain coming from my eye, I realized I must have had dried blood from where he had originally hit me to knock me unconscious.

Tears streamed down my eyes as I listened to Tucker talking on the phone to someone. "I did everything as planned. Yeah, I gots her tied up, what do you think I'm an idiot or somethin'? No Mamma, she is fine. YES, I WILL GET THE d.a.m.n MONEY. Stop your whinin'. Do you think I would have been lyin' low all of these months if I wanted to get caught? I had Charlie make the call already. It's all takin' care of. Just calm down and wait for my call."

What the f.u.c.k? His mother was also in on this?

Tucker must have got off the phone. He stopped talking and even pacing. He was so quiet for a few seconds that I considered he was right behind me, preparing to kill me here on this dirty floor, with whatever object he was holding in his hand. I could see his shadow and he was just standing behind me.

I tried to silence my tears enough where my body wasn't trembling so much, but I was afraid for my life and it was just impossible to try and be calm. Eventually, I saw the dark shadow move and finally heard him climbing up the steps, and then shutting a door. As soon as I heard that door shutting, I tried to wiggle my way around to decipher just how my hands were bound and if there was any way, I could possibly free myself.

I had to give it to the little redneck creep; he must have used zip ties on my wrists. The more I fought to free myself, the more the plastic rubbed against my skin. I was apparently tied to some kind of pole in the bas.e.m.e.nt and from the feel of it against my skin; I would say it was old and rusty.

If I wanted to get free, I would have to inflict major pain on my wrists, but I was desperate. I needed to get me and my baby out of this house. I knew Colt would come looking for me, but he didn't know where to look. I was alone for right now, but determined to get out in one piece.

I started lifting my arms up and down against the coa.r.s.e metal pole; the plastic pressing and ripping the skin on my wrist as I did it. The pain was agonizing when inflicting it on yourself, but it was necessary if I wanted to get out of this place. I could see a window straight in front of me. It had a sheet over it, but the light shined through enough to know it was an escape. Against one wall, I spotted a broom and a shovel. If I could manage my hands free, I could untie my feet and grab the shovel for protection.

The metal pole wasn't making a dent in the plastic, so I decided on taking a different approach to the plastic restraints. I twisted and turned my wrists in opposite directions, hoping to break the clasping mechanism to the stupid ties. The bas.e.m.e.nt was freezing, considering it was unfinished and I was sitting on a concrete floor, but beads of sweat were rolling down my aching head. Pain shot through my wrists and up my arms, as warm liquid oozed down from them. I had broken the skin and was bleeding from where the plastic was now digging into my skin.

My arms were exhausted and I wanted to give up, but knowing that Tucker could come down any second and see that I was fighting to get free, well it scared the bejesus out of me. I had to keep trying until I was free. I was glad that I hadn't given up, because just seconds later I felt the resistance give and my hands freeing themselves, at the exact moment the bas.e.m.e.nt door creaked open.

Chapter 13.

Colt I had been helping Conner work on installing a new manufacturer's part to one of our combines all day. The day had gotten away from me and I found myself heading home as the sun was starting to set. It was weird not hearing from Savanna all day, considering she always called at least once. I remembered she said she was going into town to get some things we needed, so I figured maybe she and my mother, or even Lucy caught an afternoon movie or something.

Nothing could have prepared me for walking into the dark house, seeing that she had never returned home. Her purse wasn't on the counter, suggesting she had gone to the ranch house. The refrigerator was still pretty empty and nothing was picked up from this morning.

I reached in my pocket to grab my cell phone and realized I had left it back inside of the combine. Worry rushed over me as I ran out of my house, Sam following, to get to my cell phone. After driving as fast as the golf cart could take me, I grabbed my phone out of the combine and noticed missed calls. There had been just one call from Savanna at nine in the morning, but nothing since. The other calls were from a blocked number. I dialed into my voicemail and started listening to the messages.

Colt....Colt Mitch.e.l.l. We have your wife and if you know what's good for you, you will get us fifty thousand dollars. If we don't hear from you, she will die. I reckon you best be gettin' to the bank. We will call you back later today with a place to make the exchange.

Somehow hearing the message was like being in the Twilight Zone. After the first moments of utter shock, I reached down and dialed my mother. I should have called the police first, but something made me call her. Maybe it was some inclination that she was always my mother and could protect me from anything painful. The thought left my mind when I snapped back into reality and realized she was on the other end of the phone waiting for me to respond. "Colt? Can you hear me dear?"

"Mom......I don't.....something.....someone took Savanna, Mom. I need your help." I was frantically pacing around the living room.

"What do you mean someone took her? Where is she?"

I sat down and ran my hand through my hair. "I don't know. She wasn't home when I got here. I had missed calls from some unknown number and a message demanding fifty thousand dollars or I would never see her again." Just the thought of never seeing my beautiful Savanna, my wife, the mother to my unborn child, made me cringe with sickness.

"You need to call the police Son. I'm coming over there right now. Sit tight. I will grab John. He is over at your aunt Karen's tonight for dinner."

How convenient. The sheriff was already at the ranch.

I contemplated calling the police, but with Savanna being kidnapped, I couldn't take the chance of having the authorities f.u.c.king up my chances of her getting home to me in one piece. I had seen too many things go bad in movies and television shows to know it didn't always have a happy ending.

My mother came rushing in the door, followed by the sound of a car slamming on their breaks in my gravel driveway. My little mother came rushing over to me, grabbing my hand, while Aunt Karen and Sheriff John followed in. "Colt, tell me everything you told your mother. Don't leave anything out. We need all the details that we get."

"I hadn't talked to Savanna all day and when I got home she wasn't here. After locatin' my phone, I had a missed call from an unknown number and one message statin' that they had Savanna and if I didn't give them fifty grand, I wouldn't see her again." I really started to panic. "She is pregnant John. We have to get that money and do whatever it takes to get her home safe. She can't handle stress John. Please tell me what to do."

He held his hands up, telling me to calm down; even though I knew it was an impossible gesture. "They never said where to meet?"

"It said they would call back." My mother rubbed my shoulders.

Aunt Karen walked over to John and grabbed his hand, getting her attention. "John, we can't just a.s.sume the best here. We need to figure out how to get her and that baby back in one piece.

"The money isn't a problem." My mother interrupted.

John put his hands up again. He was obviously accustomed to trying to calm seriously frustrated victims and criminals down. "Now let's not jump to conclusions. The next time they call, you will ask to speak to Savanna, for proof of life."

"Proof of life? Heavens to Betsy, this can't be happening right now." My mother buried her hands into her face.

I was trying so hard to remain calm and focused on just getting my wife home safely, but we had nothing to go on. To make matters worse, the banks were all closed and I had no idea how we were going to get fifty grand at six o'clock at night. "What happens if they need the money tonight? We can't get that kind of money tonight." I stood up and started pacing around the living room.

"Colt, listen here Son, if they are in it for the money, they will expect to have to provide proof of life. We have no reason to believe they have harmed her in any way," John explained.

"Can we trace the call? Is there a way to trace a blocked number?" I asked.

He shook his head and sat down on the couch, finally looking up at me after rubbing his hands together. My Aunt Karen sat down beside my mother and grabbed her hand. "It's not that simple. In most cases the phone used is called a burner phone. You can pick one up at any gas station or grocery store. The phones are untraceable, especially without knowing the number. I'm afraid we are going to have to wait it out."

That was not what I wanted to hear coming from the sheriff himself. I guess I expected he would just be able to bring her home to me immediately. I realize that it was stupid to a.s.sume, but the thought of my Savanna out there somewhere scared, and G.o.d only knows what else, made me cringe. I needed to find her, to save her, and to bring her home. I couldn't live with myself if anything ever happened to her over my parent's wealth. It wasn't fair. She never asked for this life. In fact, she came here because of me.

Guilt washed over me and the pain of realization.

My wife had been kidnapped.

For the next hour, the four of us brainstormed different scenarios back and forth. I don't know how she did it, but my mother left and came back about thirty minutes later with a suit case full of cash. For some reason, I knew I wasn't meant to ask questions. My parents were loaded, but who the h.e.l.l keeps fifty grand at their house? It's like having a sign on your front door saying 'rob me'.

I never snooped around my house, but I a.s.sumed they probably had some hidden safe somewhere. My mother was a smart woman and my father even wiser. It wasn't hard to admit that they always had a rainy day stash lying around. My mother saw me giving her the curious eye. She came over toward me and reached for my hand. "It's our emergency fund. Your dad started it when you were in high school. He was afraid he might have to bail you out of some trouble," she whispered.

"That's crazy. I wasn't that bad."

She c.o.c.ked an eyebrow and gave me a snarky look. "I beg to differ, Colton."

I pulled her into my arms. "Thank you for this, Mom."

My cell phone started ringing from across the room, grabbing our immediate attention. Before opening it, John gave me certain instructions. I wasn't to plea with them at all. I had to stick with one simple question.

"h.e.l.lo?"

"Colt Mitch.e.l.l?" The voice was distorted.

"Yeah."

"You got our money?"

"Yeah. Is Savanna okay?"

"The girl is fine."

"I need to hear her voice."

The phone went quiet for a second, like he held his hand over it. "We will call you back and let you talk to her. Stay by your phone."

They hung up before I could say any more. I looked around the room at the three of them waiting for an explanation. "He said they will call back and let me hear her voice."

"Oh thank G.o.d she is okay." My mother announced.

I put my head down and waited for the phone to ring. I hoped that she was right, but after forty minutes we still had no call and that just didn't sit right with me at all.

Chapter 14.

Savanna With my hands freed, I reached down for my feet, but was startled by the door opening, followed by feet coming down the stairs. The shovel was too far away to grab and I would have been seen by the person coming down the steps, causing them to come at me faster.